Field
The present disclosure relates generally to energy storage devices, and more particularly to battery technologies that utilize powder-based electrodes and the like.
Background
Electrochemical energy storage technologies are useful for a broad range of important applications, such as energy efficient industrial equipment, electric and hybrid electric vehicles (including ground vehicles, air vehicles, and ships), the electric grid, and consumer electronics, to name a few. Owing in part to their relatively high energy densities, light weight, and potential for long lifetimes, advanced metal-ion batteries, such as lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, now dominate consumer electronics and electric vehicle applications. However, further development and improvement of various types of batteries is needed.
Energy density (energy storage ability per unit volume) is one area for improvement. The majority of rechargeable batteries utilize electrodes comprising powders of battery materials. These powders exhibit electrochemical reactions during battery charging or discharging. Unfortunately, materials that offer high volumetric capacity (high ion-storage ability per unit volume) to such powders often suffer from volume changes during battery operation, which may result in cell degradation. In addition, many such materials additionally suffer from low conductivity (at least during some stage of charge or discharge), which may result in low power performance. For example, in the case of rechargeable metal and metal-ion batteries (such as Li-ion batteries), materials that offer high capacity, such as conversion-type cathode materials (e.g., fluorides, chlorides, bromides, sulfides, sulfur, selenides, selenium, oxides, nitrides, phosphides and hydrides, and others for Li-ion batteries), conversion and alloying-type anode materials (e.g., silicon, germanium, tin, lead, antimony, magnesium, aluminum, their oxides nitrides, phosphides and hydrides, and others for Li-ion batteries) and others, suffer from at least some of such limitations. The volume changes during ion (e.g. metal-ion) insertion/extraction, which may cause mechanical and electrical degradation in the electrodes and (particularly in the case of anode materials for metal-ion batteries) degradation in the solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) during battery operation. This, in turn, typically leads to cell degradation. Some of these materials additionally suffer from undesirable reactions between the active material and electrolyte (such as dissolution of the active material or the intermediate reaction product in the battery electrolyte). This may also lead to cell degradation.
There remains a need for further improved batteries, components, and related materials and manufacturing processes for use in various battery chemistries, including but not limited to rechargeable Li and Li-ion batteries.